This invention relates to decorative buttons, and more particularly to the support structure for buttons which can be secured by a tack for mounting, for example on clothing or upholstered furniture.
In a conventional "tack button" which is mounted on clothing or upholstery using a tack, the supporting back of the button is a metal collet with an inserted, metal, tack retaining flange having an aperture which is locked to the grooved shank of the mounting tack. The tack retaining insert is secured within the metal collet by striking tabs from the metallic wall of the collet and bending them against the flange portion of the insert to lock the insert against the collet. The tabs must be punched from the wall of the collet using small punch tools so that the tabs and the perforations left by the displaced metal of the tab are kept as small as possible to maintain the integrity of the remaining collet wall and support of the button. The sidewise motion of the punching tools cause a contact and misaligning displacement of the insert itself. In addition, the small punching tools frequently break so that partly formed or missing tabs allow the insert to loosen during or after the tack is driven into the button, and the failure of defective buttons is compounded by the effort and difficulty in the operation to remove them. These disadvantages are eliminated by the structure for tack buttons in accordance with this invention, which does not require sidewise motion or punching of a metallic collet backing of the button.